NASA SoCal Spec E30 lit up Willow Springs International Raceway on May 24-25, 2025, with a weekend of close racing, the expected and dramatic lead changes, and standout performances that showcased the depth and competitive dynamic of the popular class.
The intensity was evident from Saturday’s qualifying session. Andrew Clark narrowly secured pole position, but the field was exceptionally tight. JoJo McKenzie started from second, but dropped out of race one due to a blown engine. Jerick Javier started third with Sean Aron in fourth and Shant Kalendarian in fifth.
“It was like the top 10 cars were within a second,” John Artz commented. Sean Aron added, “It’s insane how close everyone was in qualifying. It really speaks to how strong the class is.” Aron himself faced pre-race drama, discovering flat tires Saturday morning due to suspected valve stem issues, but managed to get them sorted for the on-track action.
Saturday’s standing start saw its share of excitement. Andrew Clark, from pole, admitted to a slight early movement. “I have to put my hand up and admit to jumping the start,” Clark confessed. “I kind of lurched a little bit forward. I caught it before they did the green flag.” Jojo, alongside him, reacted similarly, though neither was penalized as they both stopped before the official start.
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Clark led the initial five to six laps, hounded by a train of cars. The main challenge came from Javier, who managed to get by Clark. “He got around me once and then I got him back in Turn 8 and then he got around me again later in the race,” Clark recounted. “And then … with maybe three, four laps to go, I got around him the last time in Turn 8 again … and built a little bit of a gap.”
While Clark and Javier diced for the lead, Tom Paule executed a patient strategy. “We were all beating the crap out of each other and he was just hanging back, watching,” Aron observed. When the leaders slowed each other, Aron explained, “Paule jumped in, took both of us just one after the other. And then he had enough left over to challenge Andrew. It was actually excellent race craft.”
A midrace yellow flag, caused when Jojo’s car blew a motor and laid oil down outside Turn 9, added another variable, with several drivers, including John Artz and rookie Larry Chen, getting a bit sideways through the slick section. Ultimately, Clark held on for the Saturday win, with Tom Paule a close second and Javier taking third in a hard-fought race.
Sunday’s action began with a 20-minute qualifying race. Matthew Ibrahim, the reigning Spec E30 National Champion, delivered a stunning performance. Starting sixth in a car he noted was “like 10 horsepower down,” Ibrahim, whose wife recently had a baby, charged through the field to take the win. “I think all the diaper changing, whatever happened, I just needed to unleash, and it just came out in the qualifying race,” Ibrahim joked. Aron called it the drive of the weekend. “He was in the lead, like three or four laps in.” Clark, who started the qualifying race on pole, suffered a malfunctioning tachometer, botched a shift, and fell to fifth.
The grid for Sunday’s main event had Ibrahim on pole, with Ryan Walton alongside. From the start, Walton established a commanding lead and, as his spotter that day Paule put it, “He just got out front and checked out,” securing the win by a margin of 11 seconds.
Behind Walton, the battle for the remaining podium spots was intense. Starting from fifth, Clark made a remarkable move early on. “I got three cars in one turn magically,” he said. “And that put me into second.” Aron, one of the drivers passed, exclaimed, “I have on my video. I’m literally pointing at him and I said out loud, ‘Where the hell did you come from?'”
The day’s most dramatic story, however, belonged to rookie Larry Chen. In only his third race weekend, Chen started the main event in P3, briefly took the lead, then made a couple of errors, including a “tandem drift” with Matthew Ibrahim, which dropped him to eighth. Undeterred, Chen put on a charge. “Going all the way back to eighth place and then working my way back up to third over the course of 30 minutes was absolutely insane,” Chen said. “I was just so gassed at the end.” He managed to hold onto third place, securing his first Spec E30 podium.
The pack behind saw incredibly close racing, with Aron and Ibrahim notably trading paint and positions, their fastest laps a mere one-thousandth of a second apart.
The weekend highlighted the skill and camaraderie within the Spec E30 community. Discussions about the tricky Turn 9 at Willow Springs, with drivers sharing insights on the “John Artz line” or “Matt Line,” showcased the continuous search for an edge. Ibrahim explained his technique: “You can go to the inside and there’s like these two bumps that you can time your braking with … it upsets the car enough where it’s already kind of pitched sideways and keep your foot down basically.” Once the track gets repaved, Ibrahim will need to find a new marker.
New racers also turned in strong performances. Logan Frost was praised by Kalenderian: “He was very fast. He was driving very well on the Sunday race.” Clark also commended Frost and Team NRD’s Abdul and Joseph, saying, “all three of them combined had a great weekend.”
With different winners on each day and fierce competition from veterans and newcomers alike, the NASA SoCal Spec E30 series promises more thrilling action as the 2025 season progresses.
